Corner reinforcing and adjusting means for frames



y 30, 1963 A. J. CHENOWETH 3,099,051

CORNER REINFORCING AND ADJUSTING MEANS FOR FRAMES Filed May 51, 1960 ALBERT J. CHENOWETH INVENTOR.

3,099,051 CORNER REINFORCING AND ADJUSTING MEANS FOR FRAMES Albert J. Chenoweth, Winslow, Wasln, assignor to Case- Jamb, Inc., Bainbridge Island, Wash, a corporation of Washington Filed May 31, 1960, Ser. No. 32,637 2 Claims. (Cl. -92) This present invention relates to a two part corner reinforcing means for aligning the members making a corner of a frame and for fixedly securing the same in their adjusted position. An especially useful application of this corner reinforcing and adjusting means is in the assembly of door and window frames in which the framed door or window assembly is factory assembled in place so that the builder can install the complete frame assembly with the assurance that proper hanging of the difierent elements has been achieved and will be maintained.

In building construction and especially in the smaller buildings and homes where wood framing and wood framed doors and windows are most commonly employed, it has been found that \on-the-job fitting of doors and windows in their respective frames and putting them in place in the building is a very time consuming and therefore expensive operation. The factory assembled units are usually packaged in paper cartons and shipped to dealers or direct to builders for their sale or use. In all handling of such merchandise the handling will tend to rack the framing and thereby loosen the corner joints to a degree which may seriously interfere with the accurate pro-hanging of the door or window members in their appropriate frames. My present corner reinforcing and adjusting means is believed to provide a very satisfactory solution of this problem in that it maintains the fixed relationship of the corner elements during all normal handling and use.

The principal object of my present invention therefore is to provide a corner reinforcing and adjusting means for frames which is made of two pieces, each of which is separately engaged with one of the two meeting frame members and has adjustable means which will securely lock the two component members in a fixed, adjusted position.

A further object is to provide tension members for the securing of the two component members of my corner so positioned that they are cantilevered with respect to the interlocking portion of the corner members, thus insuring intimate engagement \of each of the component members with the face of the frame member to which they are secured.

A further object of this invention is to provide adjusting means whereby two frame members that are somewhat out of alignment with each other at their joining corner may be placed under frictional loading and pressed or tapped into adjustment and the tension means further tightened to fixedly secure the elements together.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities will be apparent from the description and disclosure in the drawings or may be comprehended or are inherent in the device.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing my corner reinforcing and adjusting means as it is positioned on the corner of a wooden frame such as is used for door and window framing.

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation of the assembled component members of my corner reinforcing means. The same is shown in section as indicated by the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIGURE 2.

3,099,051 Patented July 30, 1963 Referring to the drawings, throughout which like reference characters indicate like parts, numerals 10 and 12 designate respectively the two component members forming my corner assembly. Corner engaging member 10 is preferably designated as the female member in that the interlocking portion carried by it is of this general form. Corner engaging member -12 is designated as the male member in that the interlocking portion is the male member of the corner interlocking arrangement. To pro vide the tension joining means for the component members I prefer to use screws 16 and 18 of the self tapping type. To accommodate screws 1-6 and 18 I provide openings 20 in member 19 that are substantially the body size of the screws so as to give a starting opening and to thus provide that the threads of the screws will have full engagement in member 10. In the male member 12 I provide transversely disposed slots 22 so that an appreciable degree of adjustment is possible with respect to the frame members to which the component members were previously secured.

A preferred manner of using my reinforcing corner assembly is shown in FIGURE 1. In this figure I have illustrated the reverse side of a corner fomcd by the header 28 and the vertical door jamb 30 which members normally meet in a beveled or mitered joint 32. The construction shown is employed quite generally in two part frame assemblies that are used in the factory fabrication of frames and windows or frames and doors. Both header 23 and jamb 30 are machined out to provide the rabbet faces as 36. Openings 40 and 42 are formed respectively in the header and jamb members and extend parallel to and entirely across the unmac hined face of these members to provide a seat for the anchoring members 44 and 46. The form shown in FIGURE 2 is a preferred form in that openings 40 and 42 are round in' St) to provide two spaced apart and opposed arcuate lugs,

the slot extending entirely across the member. Having the members 10 and 12 formed as shown in this section of FIGURE 2 throughout their length, makes it possible to construct these members economically by the extrusion process in which bar stock is made of members It} and 12 which can then be cut to the length desired to suit the width of the surfaces to which they are secured.

The two coacting component members 10 and 12 are each provided with their portion of a female and male interlocking alignment and securing means. Members 10 and 12 have similarly but oppositely and outwardly bent interlocking portions 52 and 54 respectively. This bend, for the purpose indicated in these drawings, forms an angle of 45 degrees with the straight web portions 56 and 58 respectively. The portion 52 has a V groove 60 extending entirely across its length. Portion 54 has a V-shaped lug member 62 which also extends entirely across the length of member 12. Groove 60 and lug 62 form an interlocking male and female joint which insures the exact positioning of the corner members and also provides a favorable friction surface so that when screws 16 and 18 are fully tightened, the male and female mem bers form, in effect, a fixed engagement. In order to insure this engagement it is desirable that clearance be provided at 64 as indicated in FIGURE 2.

Referring to FIGURE 2 it will be noted that the screws 16 and 18 are positioned as close to the corner of the frame as can be achieved and still give clearance for the screw heads 66. The axes of the screws are thus displaced considerably from the axis of the male and female joint. This displacement gives a cantilevering efiect for the corner portions 68 and 70 which insures that on tightening screws 16 and 18, the inner face of web portions 56 and 58 Will be inintimate engagement with the surfaces on which they rest up to corners 68 and 70' of the respective members and 12. This arrangement adds materially to the firmness of the joint and holds the wooden members in tight engagement, particularly at the outer portion of the beveled engagement 32.

The manner of using my corner reinforcing and adjusting means is illustrated in FIGURE 1. However, these parts are all assembled at the producing factory and it has been found that when the trim molding 73 is glued onto the jambs 30 or the trim molding 72 glued to the header 28 there is a tendency on drying to produce a slight twist in some of these framing members. Holes 40 and 42 are really in efiiect grooves which are considerably larger at their center than at their open portions so that each of the two members 10 and 12. are separately pressed or driven into position into a first frame 28 and a second frame member 30 respectively and in so doing slightly compress the resilient anchor member so that a very firm engagement is obtained. In case a round form is not used, the holes would be made slightly smaller than the normal outside diameter or dimension. The two portions of the wood frame, namely the header 28 and its trim molding 72 and the jamb 30 and its glued in place trim molding 73 are then brought together. If at this time the-re is a noticeable twist or misalignment, it is usual to tighten screws 16 and 18 so that considerable friction is provided by the screw head 66. The two frame elements are then either pressed or driven together so that the front and rear margins are in alignment with each other. When alignment is secured the screws 16 and 18 are given their final tightening and the joint is fixedly secured. It is to be noted however that the frictionof the fiat screw heads 66 bearing on one of the interlocking portions is now supplanted by the greatly increased frictional areas of the male and female joint provided by members 60 and 62. These screws 16 and 18 thus have only the function of holding these two interlocking members in firm fixed engagement with each other.

It is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the above description and the disclosure in the drawings that the invention comprehends a novel construction of corner reinforcing and adjusting means for frames.

. ing anchor means adjacent one end thereof remote front Having thus disclosed my invention, I claim:

1. A corner joint construction comprising, a first frame member and a second frame member, said frame members each having an inner surface, an outer surface and a beveled end surface, said beveled end surfaces meeting in abutting relationship to form a mitre joint, a pair of corner engaging members, each said corner engaging member comprising a straight web portion havsaid abutting end surfaces securing said corner engaging member to said frame and an outwardly bent portion adjacent the other end of said'web, said outwardly bent portions extending away from said frame members in parallel spaced relation :at points intermediate said abutting end surfaces and said anchor means providing a space between said outwardly bent portions, one of said outwardly bent portions having a female interlocking member positioned thereon extending into said space and the other of said outwardly lbent port-ions having a male interlocking member positioned thereon received in said female member, one of said straight web portions overlying said outer surface of said first frame member with its anchor means secured to said first frame member, the other of said web portions overlying said outer surface of said second frame member with its anchor means secured to said second frame member, and threaded fastener means passing through said parallel spaced outwardly bent portions inwardly \of said interlocking memers to resiliently pivot said web portions toward one another. I 7

2. The corner joint construction of claim 1 in which said outer surfaces of said frame members are formed with slots and said anchor means are constituted by resilient anchor members extending downwardly from the outer ends of said webs into said slots.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,503,622 Bachmann Aug. 5, 1924 1,824,900 Kaufman Sept. 29, 1931 2,804,954 Gillespie Sept. 3, 1957 2,927,352 Chenoweth Mar. 8, 196 0 FOREIGN PATENTS 336,184 Switzerland Mar. 31, 1959 

1. A CORNER JOINT CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING, A FIRST FRAME MEMBER AND A SECOND FRAME MEMBER, SAID FRAME MEMBERS EACH HAVING AN INNER SURFACE, AN OUTER SURFACE AND A BEVELED END SURFACE, SAID BEVELED END SURFACES MEETING IN ABUTTING RELATIONSHIP TO FORM A MITRE JOINT, A PAIR OF CORNER ENGAGING MEMBERS, EACH SAID CORNER ENGAGING MEMBER COMPRISING A STRAIGHT WEB PORTION HAVING ANCHOR MEANS ADJACENT ONE END THEREOF REMOTE FROM SAID ABUTTING END SURFACES SECURING SAID CORNER ENGAGING MEMBER TO SAID FRAME AND AN OUTWARDLY BENT PORTION ADJACENT THE OTHER END OF SAID WEB, SAID OUTWARDLY BENT PORTIONS EXTENDING AWAY FROM SAID FRAME MEMBERS IN PARALLEL SPACED RELATION AT POINTS INTERMEDIATE SAID ABUTTING END SURFACES AND SAID ANCHOR MEANS PROVIDING A SPACE BETWEEN SAID OUTWARDLY BENT PORTIONS, ONE OF SAID OUTWADLY BENT PORTIONS HAVING A FEMALE INTERLOCKING MEMBER POSITIONED THEREON EXTENDING INTO SAID SPACE AND THE OTHER OF SAID OUTWARDLY BENT PORTIONS HAVING A MALE INTERLOCKING MEMBER POSITIONED THEREON RECEIVED IN SAID FEMALE MEMBER, ONE OF SAID STRAIGHT WEB PORTIONS OVERLYING SAID OUTER SURFACE OF SAID FIRST FRAME MEMBER WITH ITS ANCHOR MEANS SECURED TO SAID FIRST FRAME MEMBER, THE OTHER OF SAID WEB PORTIONS OVERLYING SAID OUTER SURFACE OF SAID SECOND FRAME MEMBER WITH ITS ANCHOR MEANS SECURED TO SAID SECOND FRAME MEMBER, AND THREADED FASTENER MEANS PASSING THROUGH SAID PARALLEL SPACED OUTWARDLY BENT PORTIONS INWARDLY OF SAID INTERLOCKING MEMBERS TO RESILIENTLY PIVOT SAID WEB PORTIONS TOWARD ONE ANOTHER. 